


Awakenings

by Apricots_from_Nara



Category: The Transformers (IDW Generation One)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Cyberpunk, Assault, F/M, Rule 63, The Gaining of Sentience, Three Laws of Robotics, Transformers as Humans
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-08-25
Updated: 2017-08-25
Packaged: 2018-12-19 18:54:19
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 2,478
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11904060
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Apricots_from_Nara/pseuds/Apricots_from_Nara
Summary: It was not uncommon for older cheap models to have their owners erase the fact they owned them from the hard-drives of the gynoid, then dump them in the street. Older models, especially the cheap ones, had little resale value.“Do you have an owner?”The gynoid looked at him, her head began to make audible clicking sounds with the effort her processor was making to try and answer him. She was not in good shape at all. How long had she been out here?“No data found...” She finally said, voice tinny.





	Awakenings

Overlord turned suddenly, fist poised for another punch. Someone was in the alley.

“Miss.... help.” His target gasped through his bloody face. He reached for the silloete.

It was indeed a woman but she only stood there, her head slowly tilting to the side. Overlord relaxed a little, confused more then comforted by her lack of action.

It became clear why she was not reacting. He eyes adjusted ot the sharp contrast of light, and saw her features. She was not human. A robot made to look like a woman. She was low quality for sure, hardly any synthskin was on her, arms the barest of hinges with no synthetic muscle, and her face looked to be unable to emote at all.

“Welp, sorry bud. Your savior is just some dumb gynoid.” Overlord turned back to the mad he had been beating up, “You gonna pay up now, or do I have to keep going and take you in?”

“Alright... alright p-please.”

\----

Overlord kicked the man out of the alley, flexing his cybernetic hand a little before looking at the gynoid. She still stood there, though now off to the side and not in his way. Despite her cheap plasticky face, she was cute.

“Probably a dumped one huh?” he walked over to her. her clothes were in tatters, though once she probably wore a slinky red dress. Her hair was frizzy and damaged, the material cheap, and sticking out from the ugly mop was a pair of antenna for wifi, one of which was bent.

It was not uncommon for older cheap models to have their owners erase the fact they owned them from the hard-drives of the gynoid, then dump them in the street. Older models, especially the cheap ones, had little resale value.

“Do you have an owner?”

The gynoid looked at him, her head began to make audible clicking sounds with the effort her processor was making to try and answer him. She was not in good shape at all. How long had she been out here?

“No data found...” She finally said, voice tinny.

“You’ve been here a while huh? Come on. Might as well use you for something.” he grabbed her thin metal wrist and led her away. She moved well enough at least. Maybe she had a hard hit to the head.

Once at his apartment, Overlord cleaned her up, and then, frustrated by how terrible her hair was, cut it all off, giving her a pixie cut. At least that way her hair wasn’t so horrible looking.

Her dress was discarded, the fabric so filthy he could hardly tell if it was red or something else. he then had a chance to look at her.

She was certainly cheap. The synthskin she had was limited to her inner thighs, and breasts, which were filled with chemically softened plastic. he had found that out by shoving his finger into a hole that had been ripped into her. It was sticky and oily. cheap. She was just cheap, a cheap old love doll that could hold a conversation.

Well, not even that now. She could hardly comprehend a thing he was saying. Some of her skull was loose. She probably got beaten up, then used. Her artificial vagina was ripped and unusable. As was the fate of discarded female gynoids.

But there was something charming about her. Her eyes were golden, and what was left of her hair was an interesting shade of red. A bright, almost pumpkiny orange. And even though her face was made of cheap silicone and expressionless, it was pretty. A strange mixture of asian and indian, with old faded freckles.

The first thing he did once setting her in a chair for safe keeping, was call Swindle.

\----

“You want to save this thing?” Swindle lifted her arm up, which fell back into her lap. The gynoid watched him do it, head tilting to the side again.

“Come on, look at that face. I’ve never seen one like it.” Overlord said, admiring the gynoid's face.

“The face mold is an older retired one. Super popular, but worthless on a robot so cheap.” Swindle curled his lip as he examined her breasts, “Ugh... disgusting. The shit in there is not medical grade. Probably could cause cancer.”

“Stop whining and refurbish her already.” Overlord pulled out a tablet, making a list. “I like how skeletal her arms are, so leave that be. But i want her legs to be high end, and cover her with more synthskin. Belly, legs, back, ass. And i want a very good--”

“I get it i get it. You want a hybrid. a mix of high end and cheap looking. Make her a one of a kind gynoid.” Swindle rolled his eyes, “I know you Overlord, always wanting something special.”

“Very special. The highest quality available.” Overlord smirked, “I want her to be able to feel you know? When I --”

“I GET IT.” Swindle snapped, “She will have all the bits and bobs for a fun time. And a processor that can handle it. Older models get funky when forced to feel stuff like that.”

Swindle turned to him. “Now how good do you want that processor? I have my hands on some experimental programs.”

“Sounds good. Already sent you the money. 3 million good?”

“Yep. Should work just fine.”

\----

There was was hardly anything to salvage from her processor. The initial hit, plus water damage from rain had ruined it. The fact she was able to function was a miracle. Still, Overlord had what was left of her data moved over to her new processor, and then downloaded a new personality.

She was to be sassy and cleaver. Despite his thugish looks with his cybernetic arms, over sized for added effect, and the acid etching tattoos in the exposed metal parts, Overlord was very intelligent and enjoyed a good conversation. he picked his work becuase he liked it. Simple as that.

She was not as advanced as he liked. he had fallen short of the money needed to give her a functioning face. Her mouth could open and close, her new tongue could work, but until he got in a comfortable money situation again, she would be blank faced. Un canny valley for sure, now that it was totally human looking.

He turned her face side to side, admiring the unique sculpt, fresh new freckles, with her new pumpkin colored hair, soft and high quality... he really did have a charming companion now.

He hooked her up and downloaded her programming. he didn’t need much. He liked how he lived. All he needed was someone to talk to and sleep with when he wanted.

Her Golden eyes opened after a soft gentle little tune. She tilted her head, and she spoke with her new smooth voice, warm with affection.

“Hello Overlord. My new data has been installed, and your now registered as my owner. Would you like to name me?”

Overlord took her hand a moment, looking at the nice new shiny finish. Still skeletal like before. Her servo tips were sharp, and he was reminded of the hole bashed in her head before.

“A name please.” the gynoid said again, sounding slightly annoyed.

“Trepan.” Overlord played with her hair, smirking, “And don’t sass me too much. I get annoyed.”

“I can tell. You have a number of assault charges on file. ”

Overlord laughed at that.

\-----

Having a Trepan was honestly a god send. She cleaned his house, kept him company. His nights at home improved, and it was nice to have someone to hold on cold nights.

But then one day, he came home one night to find her cooking.

He watched her dumbfounded. He had not programmed her to do that or ordered her to do that. She was not even connected to the wifi when he had left so she could not of downloaded a program on accident. It had been a behavior she had done all on her own.

He was one to eat frozen dinners or take out. He had been happy with that. But this was... not a terrible thing.

“I never gave you an order to do this.” he said, leaning over her and sticking his finger into the soup. He turned of his pain sensors before hand. It was pretty tasty.

“I thought I would make you something.”

“You thought?”

She looked at him, her blank face suddenly far more unnerving then usual. “Is something wrong, Overlord?”

Overlord looked into her golden eyes for a long moment, before finally shrugging. “I guess not.” He rested his hands on her shoulders and kissed her cheek. “Im gonna shower.”

“Of course. Dinner should be ready soon.”

It was just an odd glitch, he figured, pushing the fact she had thought on her own to the back of his head.

But she surprised him again when he game home with a busted lip. Trepan had always been able to emulate emotions believably. Kind little smiles, warm voice when they were intimate. It was no the first time he came back hurt. But It was not the same response as the first time. Then she had sounded worried, scolding him with her programmed sass.

But she sounded genuinely... Frantic. Scared even. As far as he knew, robotic personality programs were predictable. Always the same set responses no matter how advanced. Scared had not been a response he had programmed.

“Please, let me download a first aid program.” Her hand clung to his shirt, her face still lax, but her voice.... She really was scared. 

“Yeah, alright. Should keep costs down if you patch me up for minor stuff like this.”

Her grip relaxed and she began to download the program.

He contemplated contacting Swindle so he could do a factory reset, but as she taped his lip, petting his head lovingly afterwards, he decided it was alright.

\-----

This particular job was a bit different then his usual ones. Instead of bringing in a person, he was brining in an item. It was several flash drives with illegal hacking programs that had been stolen and their owner, desperate for the illegal items to be returned, hired bounty hunters to get it back.

Overlord took the job, and stashed the items in his home once he had taken them back from the thief. 

“Im off to get my arms tuned up.” Overlord said, kissing both of Trepan’s cheeks. Trepan kissed him back, or tried to, considering her lips could not pucker. But that would change soon. This job would give him plenty of money to give her the face she deserved.

“Have a good day.”

Trepan watched him leave then was left alone. She sighed forlornly, going about her chores, done slowly to extend them. This monotonous life was... not suiting her anymore.

She was lonely and bored. When Overlord was home though... She was always happier.

Hmm. That word again. Happy. She was happy when Overlord was near. She was always curious when these odd programs began to develop, but was only left to wonder. She had not been connected to the internet that day, and had not been allowed permission. So she would not look these new programs up.

A knock at the door pulled her out of her thoughts, and she answered.

A police man stood at the door, holding out his badge. “Fortress Maximus. I am here under suspicion your owner has illegal hacking programs. I won’t bore you with the details but i have been following these programs for months, and it all leads here.”

Trepan froze. “You need a warrant.” she said, programming to protect her owner’s privacy kicking in.

“Right here.” Maximus pulled out the paper, and that feeling of fear came back to her

“Stand aside.”

She had to follow orders. The law was clear. She didn’t want to, but her legs moved, and she let him in. She watched him begin checking the apartment, in places that most would not check. He was looking for hiding places.

_He was going to find it._

_Overlord was going to be arrested._

_She would not be near him anymore._

_She would be deactivated and sold at an auction._

_She would no longer belong to him._

Something in her broke. And now all she had had in her head, was to protect him. Protect Overlord. The law didn’t matter. She shut the door behind her, striding to Maximus. She grabbed the man’s collar, and yanked him away, and onto the floor.

Fortress Maximus was startled, looking at her with wide eyes. “Stand down. That is an order.”

She froze. She must not disobey. The second law. It was clear. His order’s overrode Overlord’s.

 _‘But the second part of the first law’_ a little voice said, _‘if you do nothing, Overlord will be harmed’_

But the first part of that law.... A robot must not harm a human being.

_‘Who cares about him? He is not Overlord. Overlord is special. You love him.’_

Trepan grabbed a lamp, and before Maximus could pull out his gun, she had hit him over the head.

The policeman slumped to the floor, bleeding from his temple, and utterly immobile.

Trepan lowered her arm, lamp still clutched in her hand, and shut down.

\-----

Overlord came home to find a half dead cop and his gynoid in the living room.

“Trepan what.... What did you do?”

Trepan came to life, dropping the lamp and looking at him. “I... he was going to find it. You would be taken away. I would never see you again. I... I... I hurt him...”

“You... You’re an awakened AI.” Overlord said, in awe.

“I’m... I’m what?”

“By the law of the government, you are a living being.” Overlord was more curious then saddened. 

Not long ago, it had been decided that any robot that gained self awareness was then and there a being, and had its own rights. It was a law passed to try and be fair to the growing number of robots that gained a sense of self. To try and prevent an uprising.

He now no longer owned Trepan.

“But thats okay.” Overlord said, “You have a strong defense. Many robots... They go crazy for a while when they first awaken. You can claim thats what happened, and you should get off scot free... As long as he does not die.”

Overlord grabbed the tech, making sure to not step in any blood. “I’m going to go and hand this off. You call an ambulance and tell them you did this. It will be okay.”

“And don’t tell them you were here, right?”

“Good girl.” Overlord smiled, backing out of the room and closing the door behind him.

Looks like he was going to be spending his money on a lawyer. Not a new face.


End file.
